Activision social media manager Dan Amrich, who revealed some information about Infinity Ward bonuses today, has also commented about the recent Stimulus Pack DLC for Modern Warfare 2. The $15 price point for the additional map packs caused a minor uproar in the gaming community, but nearly 25% of Modern Warfare 2 owners still purchased the new content - 2.5 million copies were sold in the first week. Even with the sales success, Amrich believes Activision should have sold the DLC at a lower price.
"I think the $15 price point for MW2 DLC was a mistake," he said candidly, "and as soon as I had the opportunity I said so, even came up with some alternate suggestions ('how about $10 for three maps and the two remakes as freebies to thank everybody?') -- but by the time I was made aware, it was too late, and people weren't really asking me that kind of stuff anyway. Plus, the price clearly was a success so it's hard to gain traction when they're looking at a bottom line and going 'Hey, turns out people felt this content was worth it.'"
Indeed, if people plunk down the cash, Activision and other publishers may consider higher priced DLC content for high-profile games going forward. As EEDAR's Jesse Divnich wrote in a recent IndustryGamers column, "Am I happy with Activison’s actions? As an economist, yes, since someone needed to test the boundaries on DLC pricing. DLC is a new market opportunity for publishers, and it is because of the intrepid actions of Activision that we now have a few more answers."
